Voluntary presenteeism: through the lens of employee engagement

Purpose - The purpose of the study is to give a new perspective to presenteeism. Traditionally, there are two approaches to it. In our study, we have tried to empirically prove that there is a third approach to looking at presenteeism from the lens of employee engagement. Design/methodology/approach - The research design used a mixed-method approach and was carried out in two parts. In Part I of the study, survey research was carried out to study presenteeism. In part II, a vignette on presenteeism was designed to study whether respondents exhibit presenteeism more in a crisis than other modes of handling the situation. Findings - The findings from Study 1 showed that high employee engagement led to high presenteeism. Study 2 showed that in crisis situation employee engagement led to voluntary presenteeism in the form of work–from–home as the most preferred response. Research limitations/implications - The study's limitations were the small sample size and cross-sectional survey research design. The same was offset by using the vignette study to show the relationship between employee engagement and presenteeism. Practical implications - Voluntary presenteeism is different from forced presenteeism and often is a mark of engaged behaviour of employees. Social implications - If work-from-home when sick is managed correctly and supported with adequate resources, attending work during illness can benefit health and performance in the long run. Originality/value - The study provides a unique perspective on presenteeism in general and voluntary presenteeism in particular.